16 The Linguist Vol/57 No/4 2018
ciol.org.uk/tl
FEATURES
Early collaboration between transcreator, creative agency and
client is key to the success of an international advertising
campaign, argue Guido Brandt and Todd Anderson
I
deas are the lifeblood of advertising. Yet
no matter how clever an idea may be, the
success of its international implementation
is a challenge for even the brightest
creative department. Without the right
delivery, an advertising campaign that has
landed with sophisticated impact in one
market, turning heads and scoring a positive
response, may go down like a lead balloon in
another. Successfully breaching cultural
barriers requires early collaboration with a
transcreation team capable of dismantling
the campaign idea and reconstructing it in a
form that maintains its core message abroad.
Barriers that once separated the role of
transcreator from that of copywriter or
translator have become as fluid as those that
separate the role of today's journalist from that
of the polemicist. At what stage does one set
of responsibilities end and another begin?
Adapt Copywriting and Design has
almost two decades of experience in the
transcreation of advertising texts for German
companies competing on the international
stage. Based in Berlin and working closely
with companies in such advertising hubs as
Hamburg, Frankfurt and Munich, we strive to
tackle a given project in its conceptual stage,
working with the agency charged with its
creation and implementation often on the
inaugural brainstorming. The agency can
thus tap into our transcreation/copywriting
know-how to assess the campaign's regional
or international feasibility.
Our network of researchers can be quickly
mobilised should a secondary consultation
phase be required. This often takes the form
of a culture assessment, with research ranging
from an appraisal of the campaign's design
to exploring the potential receptivity of a
target market to an English adaptation.
Does colour, for instance, play a critical
role and, if so, how will it be variously
interpreted? White, traditionally symbolic of
chastity in Western societies, is the colour of
death in some Asian ones. Red can trigger a
multitude of associations. Our research on
the planned aesthetics of Austrian Air's
frequent-flyer lounge, for example, turned up
amusing results: its 'Red Lounge' conjured up
the idea of a posh airport brothel in some
SELLING SUCCESS
